The financial news has been full of dire stories about the beating tech stocks have been taking lately but less well publicized is the action in private equity specifically the creation of new payments-related unicorns According to data from New York City-based CB Insights which tracks private valuations at least half a dozen fintech startups saw their valuations in 2018 climb to or past 1 billion the generally accepted threshold for unicorn status That pace follows a frenetic 2017 when 10 fintechs achieved that lofty goal The six new unicorns include three digital banks Brazils Nubank 2 billion and the United Kingdoms Revolut 17 billion and Atom Bank 125 billion as well as peer-to-peer payments company Circle Internet Financial 3 billion Chinas mobile brokerage Tiger Brokers 1 billion and Policybazaar 1 billion an India-based mobile insurance market All told CB Insights estimates more than 300 startups worldwide are now on the unicorn list Some 52 had been added last year by August according to the latest detailed list CB Insights has compiled Other payments-related firms on the list include Affirm 2 billion AvidXchange 14 billion Coinbase 16 billion Funding Circle 1 billion Gusto billion Kabbage 1 billion Klarna 25 billion One97 Communications 57 billion and Stripe 92 billion Gusto offers a cloud-based payroll service One97 is the operator of Indias Paytm mobile-payments service But winning a lofty valuation from investors doesnt protect a company from committing blunders Robinhood Markets Inc a Menlo Park Calif-based financial-services startup that joined the list in 2017 and now boasts a 56 billion valuation last month ditched a checking savings account it had announced only in November that included no fees a 3 interest rate and a Mastercard debit card And in 2016 a UK-based e-commerce provider and point-of-sale terminal maker called Powa Technologies Ltd failed after a meteoric rise that saw it achieve a 27 billion valuation